Local economies
'Growing our own' jobs will require investment in local councils
If Government wants to maximise the bang for its buck in levelling up the country, then it must start investing in local councils and allow them to skill up local people from all backgrounds, argues Paul O'Brien.
Building back better in the UK and US
Annabel Smith and Thomas Hauschildt look at what emerged from a Centre for Progressive Policy debate on the role of place in driving forward the build back better agenda in the UK and US.
Authorities get fit for 2030
Local government needs to accelerate change and grasp the opportunities offered by devolution if they want to stay relevant in 2030, says Paul Deegan.
Is Boris in a jam on devo?
Boris Johnson’s levelling up speech was designed to kick-start devolution, quash the critics and calm the blue wall. Heather Jameson asks, did it succeed?
There's never been a better time to consider the future role of councils
We now have a golden opportunity to build on the lessons learned during the pandemic and elevate our organisations so they are 'even more interventionalist, proactive and relevant come 2030', says Nicola Beach.
Levelling up will not work without sustainable council funding
Rhetoric and big cash injections for large infrastructure projects are not the answer to the urgent issues councils and communities are facing, says Dr Arianna Giovannini.
This is our chance to level up for Cornwall
The themes in the Prime Minister’s levelling up speech chime clearly with Cornwall Council’s plan to build back stronger, greener and fairer, says Cllr Linda Taylor.
Freeports threaten to ‘undermine devolution’
Devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales have raised concerns they are being sidelined by the UK Government as it presses ahead with establishing freeports.
Johnson: Bring your devolution plans to me
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for local leaders to take their devolution plans to him in a keynote speech from the West Midlands this morning.
Advantage Stroud
As the country - and the tennis - restarts after CIVID, Stroud DC chief executive Kathy O'Leary says every council should play up to its strengths when it comes to rebuilding the economy
A forgotten city
Phil Allemendinger says we need to make digital a tool of the city, to support wider objectives including to help address inequalities and sustain local economies.
London needs to shape levelling up
Nick Bowes says that how the capital recovers from the pandemic, in the context of ‘a levelling up agenda that doesn’t see London as a priority’, is the biggest challenge for the city in a generation.
‘Something’s got to give’
Death rates from COVID-19 in Greater Manchester are 25% higher than in England as a whole, says a new report. But is its framework for ‘Building Back Fairer’ likely to trigger real change? Ann McGauran reports.
Skills devolution key to levelling up
A panel of experts brought together by the Localis think-tank discussed how to bring about economic growth at a local level.
Counties can do the strategic and the local
The strategic abilities of local government to deliver national priorities locally and the real localism counties have shown could be a positive pandemic legacy, says Cllr Tim Oliver.
Levelling up funds risk 'amplifying regional inequalities'
A new report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) is critical of the current approach of bidding for pots of money.
An opportunity to build back from the ground-up
With lockdown restrictions still in place and post-COVID economic recovery just getting started, now more than ever strong leadership from the public and private sector is needed to deliver at a local level, says Anne Boyd.
Achieving Ashfield’s Towns Fund vision
Ashfield’s Towns Fund bid won it £62.6m – the highest amount in the country. Theresa Hodgkinson reflects on why she believes the submission was so successful.
Staying local but going global for investment
Just because we are no longer in the EU does not mean European investors have lost interest in the UK, says Michael Burton - and there is a strong argument to saying the UK's regions should be scaling up their lobbying presence there, and elsewhere.
Is levelling up just a soundbite?
A poll has named tackling homelessness, poverty, crime and unemployment as priorities for levelling up. But Dan Corry says these are not the problems ‘a new building or bridge or a tarted-up high street can solve’.
